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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Brett Guthrie’s (KY-02) Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant Act of 2022 passed in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Guthrie, who serves as the Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, is the lead Republican of this bill, which Congressman Paul D. Tonko (NY-20) introduced. The Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant Act of 2022 would provide treatment, prevention, and recovery support services and give flexibilities to states to best utilize these resources. This bill would reauthorize the Substance Abuse and Treatment Block Grant, which is administered through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, through 2027.

The Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant Act of 2022, along with other bills to strengthen mental health and substance use recovery resources, passed today as part the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022. Guthrie went on the House floor to express support for the passage of Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022.

Rep. Guthrie speaking in support of the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022

As Prepared for Delivery

H.R. 7666, the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act, is a significant bill that will help support our mental health care workforce, increase access to pediatric mental health treatment, and help make schools safer. This bill will also bolster substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and recovery resources. Energy and Commerce has worked on this for months, held hearings, and reported it out by voice vote in May.

Recognizing children’s mental health has been negatively impacted by school closures, ineffective lockdowns, and increased violence, this bill provides specific resources to help communities respond to the children’s mental health crisis. This legislation also supports community mental health services for children with serious emotional disturbances through crisis-care service and other early intervention activities. The need to strengthen resources for children’s mental health has been further heightened after the horrific school shooting in Uvalde.

This bill also works to reauthorize the Garrett Lee Smith suicide prevention program, provide funding for the suicide prevention lifeline, and update a major block grant that states use to provide support to those with serious mental illnesses. 

In addition to supporting those with mental illnesses, the legislation helps those with substance use disorders. Kentucky has seen drastic rises in drug overdoses throughout the pandemic, and nationally, the CDC estimates that drug overdoses exceeded 107,000 between November 2020 and November 2021.

Many of these drug overdoses have been caused by synthetic opioids, like illicit fentanyl poisoning, which were involved in about 70 percent of all Kentucky overdoses in 2021.

Ultimately, fighting the drug overdose epidemic will require a two-pronged approach: equipping our law enforcement with the tools they need to keep these deadly poisons off our streets and providing recovery and treatment resources. Through the passage of this bill, we are advancing the second part of this approach by increasing access to critical treatment and recovery resources for people from all walks of life and every stage of life. This includes resources for moms and pregnant women by supporting care for maternal mental health and substance use disorders, which are among the leading causes of death for pregnant and postpartum women.

In addition, this legislation has a provision led by Representative Bucshon, alongside Representatives Miller-Meeks, Axne, and Pappas, to remove unnecessary regulatory barriers to help those with opioid use disorder seek the care they need as quickly as possible. The Timely Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder Act removes a federal requirement of having to live with opioid use disorder for more than a year to be admitted for in-person treatment.

I am proud that my bill, the Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Support Services Block Grant Act of 2022, which I co-led with Representatives Tonko, McKinley, and Wild, is also included in H.R. 7666. The legislation would deliver more coordinated substance use disorder care as well as explicitly reauthorize funding for recovery support services, which could include workforce training and peer support services to help get people back on their feet.

Finally, this bill is fiscally responsible. All the mandatory spending in the legislation is offset, and the legislation reduces the deficit $200 million.

I urge my colleagues to support the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-being, and I yield back.

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